Today I am interviewing Anna Smith Spark, author of the new grimdark, fantasy novel, The Court of Broken Knives, first book in the Empires of Dust series.

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DJ: Hey Anna! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Anna Smith Spark: Hello DJ, and thank you for asking me! I’m a British fantasy novelist with a background in classical history and mythology. I’m a (sadly, ex-) D&D player and Warhammer fan – for a couple of glorious years, I studied the Iliad and the campaigns of Alexander the Great all day, then played David Gemmell based D&D all night. In my past lives I’ve been an English teacher, a petty bureaucrat and a fetish model. I have dyslexia, dyspraxia and Asperger’s Syndrome.

DJ: What is The Court of Broken Knives about?

Anna: Aha ha ha. The big question. Broken Knives is my response to the hero myths and legends that I’ve loved since childhood – the Iliad, the Eddas, Beowulf, the Tain, Tolkien. It’s about violence and the cult of the war leader. Why we fight and die, why we follow someone to death. Why human society has always fetishized violence, seen prowess in war as admirable.

It’s basically a fairly standard fantasy set-up: in a decadent city, a nobleman schemes to save his world through violence, hires a company of mercenaries to do the changing. But a member of the company has a dark secret. And violence has a way of getting out of control.

DJ: What were some of your influences The Court of Broken Knives and the series?

Anna: My biggest influences as a fantasy writer are:

Scott Bakker, whose Second Apocalypse series is possibly the greatest, most horrible, most haunting fantasy series I’ve ever read.

Mary Stewart, whose Merlin Trilogy takes the Arthur myth and shows you its domestic reality, the human cost of power and glory and leadership, and who beautifully describes the British landscape that I love.

I’m also very influenced by mythology and folklore. I’ve been lucky enough to hear the opening lines of the Iliad sung in the original Greek, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the original old English, I’ve read and reread retellings of the Norse myths. In a very pretentious way, I kind of think of myself as writing mythological fan fic.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? What makes them compelling?

Anna: My characters …. The book has four major points of view: Tobias, a cyncial sellsword, seen it all, spat in its face, sold it out for cash (cliched? moi?); Orhan Emmereth, a man of learning, a rich man with a conscious, who fears and hopes for a better world; Marith, a young man of self-pitying sorrow; Thalia, the High Priestess of the Temple, a young woman who blazes with life and light. All want to live and find happiness. All make mistakes. All in their way are both pitiful and monstrous, as most of us are if you look into the depths of our souls.

I took some pretty old fantasy archetypes and (I hope) tried to explore their psychology, their inner world, their pain and hope. The stories they tell themselves.

DJ: What is the world and setting of the Empires of Dust series like?

Anna: The Empires of Dust series is set in a continent/world called Irlast. The pseudo-historical setting is Bronze Age and Dark Age mythic – the weaponry is mostly bronze, although iron is also mentioned; it’s clearly a heroic world, Celtic or Homeric, not Medieval. It’s is an ancient world mixture of empires, kingdoms, tribal peoples, city states. At its heart is the ancient city of Sorlost, once the capital of a great empire, now fading to decay. It’s based on Samarkand, the lost cities of the Taklamakan desert, the medieval European fantasies of the great cities of the East and of Imperial Rome. Sorlost is intentionally Orientalist, it’s talking the European fantasy of the ancient East and playing with it, taking it to its extremes, then reading it back.

It’s a violent world. The worlds of the great heroes are violent worlds. But it’s a beautiful world, also. I’m a frustrated nature writer. I love describing the deserts, the forests, the sea, the high dark hills. A lot of the landscape is based on the places I love, the Peak District, Dartmoor, the East Anglian salt marshes.

And it’s a numinous world. I deliberately didn’t create a magic system or a pantheon of gods. There is magic in this world, and gods, demons, nature spirits, preternatural creatures, whatever you want to call them and understand them as. But it’s not defined. It’s all just there, in the land, in the characters’ experiences of the world.

DJ: Anytime I have a “grimdark” author, or novel, or fan on the genre on, I have to ask: What is your definition of “grimdark”?

Anna: There’s a rather depressing misconception that grimdark is just traditional fantasy but with very extremely graphic (sexual) violence. The Lord of the Rings as directed by Paul Verhoeven (actually, now I mention it, I’d so definitely watch that. Kickstarter campaign, anyone?). The Wheel of Time only all the men get tortured and all the women get raped.

Grimdark isn’t about that.

Yes, grimdark needs intense fantasy violence. The most grim, dark book I’ve ever read is Zola’s L’Assommoir, and that’s certainly not grimdark on account of being naturalism about nineteenth century Parisians. But the mere mindless fetishization of violence isn’t grimdark. And it’s not just about showing that ‘good people have flaws’ or ‘right and wrong can be a bit complicated’. Uh, that’s not exactly a huge revelation about human life. By those terms, all human history is grimdark. (Actually, now I mention it …)

The term supposedly originally came from the Warhammer 40k line ‘in the grim, dark future, there is only war’. Grimdark is about showing the reality of that. War is horrifying and evil beyond belief and yet we do it and celebrate it and always will. Everything’s lies. Everything’s rotten. Any possible moral justification you can give me for violence is bullshit. But there’s still love, and pleasure, and happiness, because there’s life.

My alternative, less poncy definition, is that I know it’s grimdark when I get a crush on the protagonist.

DJ: What do you think makes your novel “grimdark”?

Anna: The extremely graphic violence.

Sorry.

It is a very violent book. It’s a bleak book, also. But at its heart it’s about damaged people trying to find happiness. It’s a celebration of life, in some ways. And life has a price. Every act we carry out can harm others.

Broken Knives isn’t about good versus evil. It’s about the violence and hope within the human soul.

Also, I have a massive, massive crush on the protagonist.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing The Court of Broken Knives?

Anna: The fight scenes are amazing to write, a huge adrenaline rush, the way the prose pours out, this white heat of language. It’s a turn on, basically, yeah. Also the landscape descriptions, painting the world, discovering its beauty and meaning as I write it.

But the most fun bits are the little details, like constructing the language systems. There are a lot of references and what are basically in-jokes in the language systems, it’s a lot of fun playing around with language like that, creating my own vocabularies. I’ve got to the point in book three where you can, if you really work at it, work out the root words at the base of a couple of key character names. I loved doing that.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

Anna: The big thing seems to be my prose style. ‘A black metal band playing opera’ is one description that I’ve read and absolutely loved. I’m a stylist. I wanted to describe pure emotion: love, grief, violence, pain. I wanted to write something horrible and beautiful. Some people have absolutely hated the way it’s written. It wasn’t written to be an easy book to read.

DJ: Do you have a particular goal in writing the Empires of Dust series? The Court of Broken Knives is only the first book, but is there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

Anna: Empires of Dust is a trilogy. There’s a single long story line running through the three books, although each novel is also fairly self-contained with a beginning and an end. I’m telling the protagonist’s life story, in true heroic saga style. Broken Knives is youth, becoming, beginnings. Book two, The Tower of Living and Dying, is maturity, perhaps. Book three is old age.

As I may have hinted above, the key theme is violence and the desire to commit violent acts.

DJ: When I read, I love to collect quotes – whether it be because they’re funny, foodie, or have a personal meaning to me. Do you have any favorite quotes from The Court of Broken Knives that you can share with us?

Anna: ‘He stares mesmerised at the dying. The beauty of it. The most beautiful thing in the world. Killing and killing and such perfect joy.’

‘So much life. So much life in this dead place. The air smelt of life. The stream sang of life. The sky was luminous with life, colourless, liquid.’

‘Then they broke for dinner and it was roast pork and whichever fucker thought roast pork was a good idea right now should be disemboweled.’

DJ: Now that The Court of Broken Knives is released, what is next for you?

Anna: I’ve written book two, The Tower of Living and Dying, which will be published summer 2018, and am now well into book three. I’ve also got various stories set in the Empires of Dust world coming out in anthologies – Booknest.Eu are doing a wonderful charity anthology for Medicines Sans Frontiers, and NewCon Press are doing Legends III: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell. And, distinct from my own world, I’m a part of a big new dark fantasy Kickstarter project that will be revealed in September. I’m very busy, but it’s an amazingly exciting time.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

In this dark and gripping debut fantasy that Miles Cameron called “gritty and glorious!” the exiled son of the king must fight to reclaim his throne no matter the cost.

It is the richest empire the world has ever known, and it is also doomed. Governed by an imposturous Emperor, decadence has blinded its inhabitants to their vulnerability. The Yellow Empire is on the verge of invasion–and only one man can see it.

Haunted by prophetic dreams, Orhan has hired a company of soldiers to cross the desert to reach the capital city. Once they enter the Palace, they have one mission: kill the Emperor, then all those who remain. Only from the ashes can a new empire be built.

The company is a group of good, ordinary soldiers, for whom this is a mission like any other. But the strange boy Marith who walks among them is no ordinary soldier. Young, ambitious, and impossibly charming, something dark hides in Marith’s past–and in his blood

Dark and brilliant, dive into this new fantasy series for readers looking for epic battle scenes, gritty heroes, and blood-soaked revenge.

About the Author:

Anna Smith Spark lives in London, UK. She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website http://www.greatworks.org. Previous jobs include petty bureaucrat, English teacher and fetish model.

Anna’s favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at sff conventions wearing very unusual shoes.

DJ: Hey Leonie! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Leonie Postma: Thanks DJ, for inviting me here. Sure. I’m Dutch, and grew up in Amsterdam and some years in France. After my studies, I worked for a number of years in Namibia and Angola, after which I came back to the Netherlands again. Currently, my base is Amsterdam, but I stay several months a year in Portugal, which is for me the perfect place to write, while helping out on a farm. Besides writing and farming, I work as a trainer and project evaluator on freelance basis, and love to go for long walks.

DJ: What is Samir about?

Leonie: Samir is the story of a refugee in what seems to be a beautiful and peaceful place, a place I refer to in the book as the Centre. The story explores our desire to create and believe in utopia, beautiful places where all is good, and where, sometimes, we can forget that what is good for one, is not always good for the other. It’s also a story that question’s the manufacturability of a society: is it possible to create what we want? Are we, as humans, able to control it all? Or will there always be a dark side in whatever we make – whether it is new technology or a new type of society – a side we didn’t want to see, or which we forgot to take into account?

DJ: What were some of your influences for Samir?

Leonie: Maybe it sounds a bit clichéd, but Donald Trump’s promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico and the current influx of refugees in Europe inspired me to write Samir. When reading about all this, I was wondering: what would happen if someone decides to set up safe heavens, where refugees can live in peace and get everything they need: food, facilities, clothes, in return for forty hours of labor. And what will happen if we make everyone practice mindfulness and meditate at least once a day, so that they can experience living in the here and now. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true?

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

Leonie: Let me briefly introduce Samir and Irene, the two main characters. From the start, we get to know Samir as a kind and friendly man who wants to help his family. While writing the story, I felt both respect and sadness for his struggle to do well for his family, while trying to fit in with the new lifestyle in the Centre and deal with the dark secrets of his past.

For Irene it’s different. Like Samir, she is kind and wants to help others and do good. But unlike Samir she doesn’t have a difficult past, and is somehow a little naïve. In this story, Irene loses some of her innocence and learns to see more clearly both the positive as well as the negative sides of the Centre. She becomes stronger, and more realistic, without losing her dreams.

DJ: What is the world and setting of Samir like?

Leonie: The story is set in the Centre which is kind of a sanctuary compared to the difficulties you have to face in the real world. It’s a moneyless society where everyone lives and works in peace. There is nothing to worry about, and everyone gets individual and family coaching and help to fit in, learn the new language, participate in sports, group meditation. When you don’t look too deep, or behind the curtain, it’s a beautiful place.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing Samir?

Leonie: Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by books and love reading stories. Utill recently, I always thought that I was a reader, and not a writer. It’s only in the last few years I’ve discovered the joys of writing fiction. After years of working on official documents, evaluation reports, accurately describing findings and carefully formulating recommendations, it’s been a liberation to experience the freedom of writing fiction. It is so much fun to give your characters a voice and to get to know them closely. And it has been interesting to create the world in which they live and interact. Probably that last part is what I enjoyed the most about writing Samir.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

Leonie: I guess people will want to talk both about Samir and the Centre. Some of the readers have already told me that they would like me to write a part two, in which they can find out how Samir and all the other main characters are doing. Others keep on thinking about the Centre, and the question of whether a life in such a perfect place is desirable. It’s these types of questions which keep lingering in their minds.

DJ: Now that Samir is released, what is next for you?

Leonie: I’m working on a second novella, called Krista, which I hope to release in early 2018.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

Samir has endured a long and torturous journey after fleeing the violence in his homeland. He’s relieved to find the Centre, and to be welcomed into its sanctuary. It provides the security he craves, and if he only accepts a few conditions, he’s assured his family can join him, without having to suffer the same arduous trip he made. While he’s introduced to the Centre’s new lifestyle, he’s given the chance to relax, gather his strength and work to give something back to those who are helping him. He settles in to this beautiful and tranquil place, where he can finally be who he wants to be. It seems like paradise – until he’s invited to sit quietly and meditate on his deepest fears and explore the darkest secrets of his past. Samir’s story reminds us of how outer beauty and utopian ideologies can blind us to reality, that what we see is not always what we get – or want.

About the Author:

Leonie Postma is an independent advisor with more than 20 years’ experience in human and social development. She is interested in people, their motivations, their dreams and the obstacles they encounter in life.

She loves travelling and listening to the stories of the people she meets along the way, to hear about their lives, the environment they live in and how they care for the world around them.

When she’s not working – or writing – you’ll find her on the road, most likely on foot, exploring the world around her or talking with and listening to the people she meets.

DJ: Hey Wendy! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Wendy Hammer: Hi! Sure thing. My go-to three word introduction is: Reader, Writer, Weirdo. It covers most of the bases. I’ve been a voracious reader almost my whole life and I love to write. This is handy because I teach English at a community college for a living. The weirdo part speaks to personality, I suppose. I like eccentrics, oddities, and quirk. I’m a geek. I will talk about Dragon Age, Hannibal, Nimona, and other favorites all day long.

DJ: What is the Cross Cutting series about?

Wendy: It’s about Trinidad O’Laughlin, a woman who can magically bond with a territory in order to protect it, and her search for a home to call her own. She comes to Indiana in response to a cry for help and in hopes of reconnecting with an old friend. There, she confronts waves of murderous monsters who travel through cuts between our world and their own. Each major story in the collection focuses on a different cut and a new piece of the puzzle. The second section of the collection is from her friend Ache’s point of view, but Trinidad never takes a backseat. In the end, it’s her story.

DJ: What were some of your influences for the Cross Cutting series?

Wendy: A mishmash of RPG warden/bard/ranger character classes, Irish and Trinidadian culture, classic punk music, my favorite horror movies, and likely all the other media I’ve consumed over the years.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

Wendy: My main characters form a found family and their bonds help them stand against the threats to their world. Trinidad grew up in Ireland and her namesake island—the music, food, language and dance influence her, but she’s looking for a place to belong in America. She keeps her hair natural, her weapons ready, and her boots in perfect repair. Achilles (Ache) Vetrov is a six-foot-six clairvoyant bass player. He prefers peaceful, deliberate conflict management, but when that fails he’s got a pair of brass knuckles. His best friend, Marshall Kim, tells bad jokes, owns a food truck, and helps out with technology. Ache’s sister, Iris, is the owner and artist at Rubber & Glue tattoo. She loves vintage clothing, rocks fuchsia hair and a relentlessly upbeat attitude. She’s balanced by her level headed scientist girlfriend, Yauvani. The final member is Abbot Sweeney, the proprietor of The Craic Piper—an Irish bar and their home base.

DJ: What is the world and setting of the Cross Cutting series like?

Wendy: My urban fantasy is set in contemporary Indiana—specifically in Indianapolis and the Greater Lafayette area—with a few adjustments here and there. Though I’m originally from Wisconsin I’ve lived in Indiana for quite some time. I wanted to work in a place familiar to me—and one that may be new to readers.

DJ: Has anything special or new been added to the omnibus?

Wendy: Yes! There are two new short stories: “Snow Day” and “All Your Fears.”

DJ: What are those about?

Wendy: “All Your Fears” is a darker story, more influenced by horror. A series of improbable deaths pushes Trinidad to investigate and find the culprit before fright gets its claws in too deep. “Snow Day” features one of my favorite supporting characters. She’s so much fun to write. Iris and her guest are enjoying a summer Snow Day until the supernatural crashes the party. The women must harness their own strengths to save the day.

DJ: How have the reviews been from readers, bloggers, and reviewers for the all three books of the Cross Cutting series? Is there anything that your audience seems to be particularly enjoying or is eager to find out more about?

Wendy: *Attempts to duck away from the pressure, slips and falls on face*

I’m thankful for every reader and hope everyone can find something to have fun with. Heh.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing the Cross Cutting series?

Wendy: I grew really attached to the characters. I also have a great time creating new monsters. I had a blast writing the family dinner scenes. Devising menus, working in a bit of banter, and hatching battle plans made them some of my favorite scenes to write. I also found out I like making up names for fake businesses, especially bars.

DJ: What was your goal when you began writing the Cross Cutting series? Was there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

Wendy: I wanted to write an exciting story featuring a core group of characters who are fundamentally harmonious. Instead of arguing and personal drama, I wanted them to focus on cooperating against the external threat. Given that the monsters tend to attack what makes us human, it seemed fitting. I also wanted to write a story where a woman is a natural leader and everyone in the group is perfectly fine with that.

DJ: This may have skipped some reader’s attentions, but the Cross Cutting series is actually a collection of novellas. It seems to me that novella is gaining a rise is popularity again: what is it about the novella format that you like?

Wendy: I love the balance of the form. There’s room to explore character, develop multiple scenes, and play, but it’s short enough to demand a narrower focus than a novel. It moves quickly and you can read it in a sitting, if you like.

DJ: I’m always curious when authors finish a series, how close to the original course they stayed when it is finally completed or if it ended up evolving and changing. Did the plot stay the same as you had first imagined it? How about the ending? The evolution of your characters?

Wendy: The big pieces and goals remained the same. How I got there changed a little bit, but that’s how I like it. I work from an outline broad enough to give me plenty of opportunities to discovery write. I love those “Ooo, that bit could be cool” moments I stumble into.

DJ: When I read, I love to collect quotes – whether it be because they’re funny, foodie, or have a personal meaning to me. Do you have any favorite quotes from the Cross Cutting Omnibusthat you can share with us?

Wendy: That’s a tough one. I guess I’d say, it’s the opening line to the first novella: Some days felt like last days.

It echoes throughout the rest of the series. Trinidad faces life-threatening, potentially world-ending dangers and she can sometimes feel these turning point days. On last days she treats herself to some fabulous food (in The Thin it’s the famous shrimp cocktail from St. Elmo’s and a Hendrick’s martini), basks in the sun, and embraces life—so when the darkness comes she can fight it with everything she’s got.

DJ: Now that the Cross Cutting Omnibus is released, what is next for you?

Wendy: I’m working on a few short stories that will hopefully find a home somewhere eventually and a secondary world fantasy novel.

DJ: Where can readers find out more about you?

DJ: Before we go, what is that one thing you’d like readers to know about The Cross Cutting Omnibus that we haven’t talked about yet?

Wendy: I’m excited about the monsters in the stories—so much so that the individual novellas are named after them. The Thin drive crime scene vans around the city and abduct and terrorize its people. The Hollow are invasive creatures with concave faces and no mercy. Both serve The Marrow—a force determined to make our world its own. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll say I was pleased by how they turned out. I love traditional monsters, faerie, werewolves, vampires and all, but I also like new ones to play with.

DJ: Is there anything else you would like add?

Wendy: Just a quick thanks to all the readers and writers out there. Keep being awesome!

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

This gritty urban fantasy by Wendy Hammer is an omnibus of three novellas: The Thin, The Hollow, and The Marrow, and features two new short stories.

The Thin: Strange vans roam the streets as people go missing or turn up dead. The city can’t fight the monsters alone. Trinidad O’Laughlin is a guardian looking for a territory to bond with and protect. Indiana’s distress call may give her a chance at one–if she can survive long enough to take it.

The Hollow: Ache Vetrov is clairvoyant and a caretaker of secrets and lost things. When a mysterious wave of violence threatens to overwhelm the city of Lafayette, Ache begins to investigate. He and Trinidad O’Laughlin uncover creatures with concave faces devoid of feeling or mercy. Ache, Trinidad, and their friends must hold strong if they hope to find a way to stop the monstrous invasion before it erases everything.

The Marrow: Trinidad O’Laughlin has people to love and a city to watch over. Lafayette has become a true home. Her newfound peace is shattered when another cut opens in her territory and unleashes the malevolent force behind the previous invasions. Trinidad and her friends must defeat it before the whole world falls to its hunger.

About the Author:

WendyHammer grew up in Wisconsin and lives in Indiana. She has degrees in English from The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ball State University. Her research focus was in gender/identity studies and bodies. Her dissertation was about the intersections of twentieth century infectious disease narratives and imperialist discourse, with a particular focus on Africa. The diss was abandoned, but her interest remains. She currently teaches introductory literature and composition at a community college.

She writes speculative fiction (fantasy, horror and science fiction) and is an affiliate member of HWA. She has done some freelance writing for an RPG.

Her short stories can be found in Urban Fantasy Magazine, EGM Shorts, Suspended in Dusk, The Shapeshifter Chronicles, and elsewhere. The first two novellas in the Cross Cutting trilogy (The Thin and The Hollow) have been published by Apocalypse Ink Productions.

She reads everything. She indulges in K-drama, horror, and cooking competition show marathons (especially the Great British Baking Show). She likes geeky cross stitch projects, classic punk music, and salted licorice. And finally, she considers both Cobra Commander and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl to be kindred spirits.

Okay, so this post is long overdue. I mean long, long, long overdue. I am finally typing this up on Friday night August 11…. I first my first year of medical in May XD I know; I’m that good. What’s even funnier is that today was also the end of Term 3! Which means that this post is technically a term late XD

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Here was basically how my schedule:

Monday-Friday (no-lab)

6:30 am: wake-up

7:00 am: breakfast

8am – 12pm: lecture

12:15pm – 1:15 pm: gym

1:30pm: lunch

2-5pm: study

5:30 pm: dinner

6-10:30: study

11:00 pm: food

11:30pm – 12am: bed

Monday-Friday (with lab)

6:30 am: wake-up

7:00 am: breakfast

8am – 12 pm: lecture

12:10pm: lunch

1pm – 5pm: lab

0r

1pm – 3pm: lab

3pm – 5pm: study

5:30pm: dinner

6-10:30: study

11:00pm: food

11:30pm – 12am: bed

Saturday

7:30am: wake up

8-9:30am: market

10am: breakfast

10:30am – 1pm: study

1:30pm: lunch

2pm -5pm: study

5:30pm: dinner

6pm-10:30pm: study

11:00pm: food

11:30pm – 12am: bed

Sunday

8am – 9am: market

10am: breakfast

10:30am-1pm: study

1:30pm: lunch

2pm -5pm: study

5:30pm: dinner

6-10:30: study

11:00 pm: food

11:30pm – 12am: bed

These times are NOT exact and everyday was NOT like this. Sometimes I finished studying earlier or later; sometimes I would take another break around 9 to eat and the go back to studying; sometimes I would go to the gym on the weekend; and there were days when other committed and activities would cause me to adjust the daily schedule. However, this was the “goal” for each day.

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Now I know I promised to take more photos of my campus this time around, and umm… well, about that…. Lol I did take more photos! Just not nearly as many as I should have or that you would have liked..

My campus (via Pokemon Go!):

The beach:

Dock at the marina:

Because I needed more photos for this post:

One anatomy prof really liked Game of Thrones:

And I also visited a friend in Trinidad for a day too:

And of course, I forget to take photos

But, I visited a good friend of mine and she’s happen to be a writer! If you are in to fan-fiction/korean-pop/anime/adult stories then check out her work. She is talented writer in general and some of here original work is on there as well… http://thetaintedblade.livejournal.com

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Before I go, I sincerely want to thank all of you so very much for staying with my blog… The fact you all are still liking and sharing and even commenting from time to time even though I don’t have to time do the same for yours

Today I am interviewing Nina Allan, author of the new science-fiction novel, The Rift.

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DJ: Hey Nina! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Nina Allan: Hi, and thanks for having me! I’m a British writer, with a keen lifelong interest in speculative fiction across all genres. I’ve published more than fifty short stories and a couple of collections. My first novel The Race was shortlisted for the Kitschies Red Tentacle and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. I live and work on the Isle of Bute, in western Scotland. The Rift is my second novel.

DJ: What is The Rift about?

Nina: The Rift is about two sisters, Selena and Julie. Julie disappeared at the age of seventeen, leaving her family devastated and unable to come to terms with what happened. Twenty years later, Selena receives a telephone call from someone claiming to be Julie, saying she has spent time on another planet and that she wants her return to the world to be kept secret. The woman seems in every way to be Julie, but Selena can’t bring herself to believe the story she tells about herself. She has to make a decision: is Julie really her sister or not? And how much of what she says is a fantasy, an explanation for the real trauma she experienced when she was abducted?

DJ: What were some of your influences for The Rift?

Nina: That’s such a difficult question to answer, because the novel changed so much while I was writing it. The Rift was originally going to be a more straightforward alien abduction story. I’m fascinated by that phenomenon, and more particularly by the many testimonies recorded from people who claim to have been the victims. Again and again, you see a gulf opening up when a friend or close family member claims to have experienced something that people on the outside of that experience find difficult and more often impossible to believe. At some point that theme – the idea of difference that arises out of absence or separation – began to take over from the aliens themselves. A key influence was Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, which a lot of people will know through Peter Weir’s film adaptation. One scene in particular – where the miraculously returned Irma is brought into school to say goodbye to her classmates – kept coming back to me. It’s an odd scene, a supremely powerful scene, because you would imagine the other girls would be delighted to see their comrade again, but what you get instead is a barely repressed violence, an anger that she knows something and is refusing to tell them. These are the kinds of ideas The Rift ends up exploring.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

Nina: I hope that readers will find both the sisters interesting to read about, though perhaps for different reasons. Selena is the one most of us will feel sympathy with at the start, because it’s her version of the story we get to listen to first. Selena is straightforward, open and honest. More to the point, her problems are easy to identify and empathise with: her family is in pieces, her father dies after many years spent struggling with mental illness, she feels she can’t properly commit to her boyfriend Johnny until she gets some kind of closure on what happened to her sister. When Julie comes back, everything seems even more up in the air and again, we’re on her side, because we have no reason to trust Julie, no reason to believe what she says. Then we start getting Julie’s side of the story and it’s only then that she comes properly into focus as a character. She’s difficult, lonely, damaged. We still have no idea whether we should believe her or not, but we do begin to understand why she feels so alone. That tension between belief and unbelief is vital to the story but it’s the relationship between the sisters that drives that story forward.

DJ: What is the world and setting of The Rift like?

Nina: The Rift partly takes place in our own world, in the north of England, and as such it’s very recognizable. The central section, which forms the bulk of Julie’s story, takes place on the planet of Tristane, a planet in crisis because of a possible alien invasion of its own. Tristane is much bigger than Earth, and the population is mainly confined to six vast city-states. These city-states are separated from one another by great distances, expanses of forest and extreme variations in climate, and so have evolved their own distinct forms of government and society, everything from a Romanesque version of democracy through to a strictly hierarchical, warrior-caste culture that is more autocratic. At the time Julie claims to have been resident on Tristane, there are rumours that a parasitical life form called the creef has been accidentally imported to Tristane from her smaller satellite planet, Dea. These rumours are officially dismissed as folklore, as fiction, but there are worrying signs that the invasion might be real.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing The Rift?

Nina: Piecing it all together. I have a longstanding interest in and fondness for unorthodox forms of narrative, telling a story through found documents, interviews, embedded texts that relate closely to the events in the main narrative but that are not necessarily a contiguous part of it. I love mystery novels, crime stories, true-crime journalism, and there are parts of The Rift – Julie’s essays, newspaper articles, scientific reports – that clearly reflect this interest and influence. I hugely enjoyed thinking about and composing this material, seeing how it changed the colours and textures of the novel as a whole.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

Nina: Is Julie really Julie, and is her story really the truth about what happened to her!

DJ: Why did you choose science fiction as a way of telling what is essentially a family story?

Nina: I believe the speculative modes – science fiction, fantasy and horror – are among the most fascinating, flexible and exciting approaches in all of literature. You can do things with science fiction that simply aren’t possible within a wholly ‘realistic’ context. For a writer, creating an alien world is not just fun and challenging – though it is both fun and challenging! – it also offers a dynamic method for questioning our own accepted reality and ways of being. Even if readers choose to interpret Julie’s time on Tristane as a kind of fugue state, a reshaping of reality to accommodate trauma, it is still hugely relevant as an insight into Julie’s character, her state of mind, her alienation from reality, the power of her imagination, even. For the reader, science fiction is thrilling because it offers unlimited possibilities for where a story might end up. Science fiction is infinitely malleable. Like all the most resilient life forms, it evolves.

DJ: Now that The Rift is released, what is next for you?

Nina: I’ve just finished writing a brand new novel, the story of a remarkable doll maker and the writer with a troubled past who becomes his penpal. There’s a mythical, fairytale quality woven into the DNA of this novel and I hope to announce more details about it in the near future.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

Selena and Julie are sisters. As children they were closest companions, but as they grow towards maturity, a rift develops between them.

There are greater rifts, however. Julie goes missing at the age of seventeen. It will be twenty years before Selena sees her again. When Julie reappears, she tells Selena an incredible story about how she has spent time on another planet. Selena has an impossible choice to make: does she dismiss her sister as a damaged person, the victim of delusions, or believe her, and risk her own sanity in the process? Is Julie really who she says she is, and if she isn’t, what does she have to gain by claiming her sister’s identity?

.

About the Author:

I was born in Whitechapel, London, grew up in the Midlands and West Sussex, and studied Russian literature at the University of Exeter and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. I wrote my first short story at the age of six. Recurring obsessions include old clocks and rare insects, forgotten manuscripts and abandoned houses. Writers who have inspired and continue to inspire me include among many others Vladimir Nabokov, Iris Murdoch, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Auster, J. G Ballard, Roberto Bolano, M. John Harrison, Shirley Jackson, Kelly Link, and of course Christopher Priest, my partner and first reader. We live and work in the Taw Valley area of North Devon.

My stories have appeared regularly in the British speculative fiction magazines Interzone, Black Static and Crimewave, and have featured in many anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year #2 and #6, The Year’s Best SF #28,The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2012 and 2013, and Best British Fantasy 2014. My story ‘Angelus’ won the Aeon Award in 2007, and my novella Spinwon the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Short Fiction in 2014. My novella The Gateway was a 2014 finalist in the Shirley Jackson Awards, and the French edition of my story cycle The Silver Wind (published by Editions Tristram as Complications) won the Grand Prix de L’imaginaire (Best Translated Work, short fiction category) in 2014. My novel The Race was shortlisted for the 2015 BSFA Award, and for the Kitschies Red Tentacle.

A first collection of my short fiction, A Thread of Truth, was published by Eibonvale Press in 2007, followed by The Silver Wind in 2011. 2013 saw the release of the limited edition collection Microcosmos (NewCon Press) my standalone novella Spin (TTA Press) and my story cycle Stardust: The Ruby Castle Stories (PS Publishing). My debut novel, The Race, set in an alternate and near-future version of southeast England, was first published by NewCon Press in August 2014 and will be reissued in a new and expanded edition by Titan Books in July 2016..

Today I am interviewing RJ Barker, author of the new fantasy novel, Age of Assassins, first book in the Wounded Kingdom series.

◊ ◊ ◊

DJ: Hey RJ! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

RJ Barker: Yes! Glad to. I live in Leeds, which is in Yorkshire in the UK. I’m married to Lindy and we have a little boy and a cat called Bertie. The little boy isn’t called Bertie. He’s called Rook. And we live in flat in a very old mansion that we fill with taxidermy and odd art. We surround ourselves with things that make us happy. I advise doing this wherever possible in life.

DJ: What is Age of Assassins about?

RJ: It’s a murder mystery, at its heart. And a story about the relationship between a boy, Girton Club-Foot (our hero and the book’s narrator) and Merela Karn, who has brought him up and trained him. They’re trapped in a castle and forced to find out who wants to murder the heir. It’s a pressure-cooker environment[1] and it forces Girton into a position he’s very uncomfortable with, which makes him examine himself. And of course, as it’s a fantasy book there’s also magic and intrigue and swordfights. All the good stuff.

DJ: What were some of your influences for Age of Assassins and the series?

RJ: I’m a big lover of history and I’d been writing a short play about Margaret of Anjou, so that’s in there, and I’m a HUGE fan of the King Arthur myth as well. From the other side Agatha Christie is in there and there are definite influences from American crime writers like James Lee Burke and Robert Crais. And I’ve always been a bit of an outsider, too[2], so that feeds into the creation of Girton. He’s very much on the outside of a world looking in.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

RJ: I think something that works well in this book is you get the duality of people. Girton is an assassin and he’s VERY good at it. When he’s allowed to be that he’s cocky, confident and capable. But the book strips him of that and he has to cope with his peers, boys of his own age and that’s totally alien to him and he’s quite lost. Among adults, he knows what he is and how to work, but otherwise he’s not as sure. And we are all familiar with that. You might be really good at your job but if you’re suddenly thrown in at the deep end of something utterly different you become a different person while you try and find your feet. I really enjoyed putting Girton through that[3].

DJ: What is the world and setting of The Wounded Kingdom series like?

RJ: The action takes place in Castle Maniyadoc, which is the centre of Maniyadoc and the Long Tides, a kingdom within the Tired Lands. I think the Tired Lands says it all really. This is a worn-out place, there’s not enough of anything and the way magic works in the book affects the landscape. Magic takes power from the land but the effects are devastating. Places where large magics have been performed are dead, nothing will grow there and they scar the land. It’s a very striated and class-based society, people believe the gods are dead and they cannot change what they are until their gods return. It’s not a happy place. But Girton exists outside of it in many ways so he’s our way in.[4]

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing Age of Assassins?

RJ: Just writing. I like to write. There’s something hugely satisfying about sitting down and creating something from nothing. You start with a blank page and you end up with people and stories and worlds. It’s magical really, we’re very blasé about what astounding creatures we are. Everyone has this ability to imagine things, we all have a personal narrative going on in our heads and that’s amazing. We’re creating our own story all the time. All we do as authors is refine that skill; we push our narrative into other people and twist it into other forms.

Erm, so yeah, I like to write.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

RJ: I hope Girton, his master and their relationship. You see the entire book from Girton’s point of view and he’s a bit idiosyncratic, his internal monologue won’t be yours so there’ll, hopefully, be a bit of dislocation until you settle[5]. And then you like him, and you experience this bond he has with his master. I hope when you finish it you will feel like you’ve met people you like, that you’d hang around with.

DJ: Did you have a particular goal when you began The Wounded Kingdom series? Age of Assassins is only the first book, but is there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

RJ: Do the right thing. I know the world seems very dark sometimes but the vast majority of people are good. When I read a book I’m not looking for something that’s going to drag me down, I want something that’ll give me hope. Age of Assassins isn’t all sweetness and light, the world is quite grim and sad, but Girton is a hopeful character, he wants to do right and he is very loyal to those he likes.

If he doesn’t like you he’s a bit more stabby.

DJ: When I read, I love to collect quotes – whether it be because they’re funny, foodie, or have a personal meaning to me. Do you have any favorite quotes from Age of Assassins that you can share with us?

RJ: I’ve been asked this a few times and I’ve always demurred as Age of Assassins is kind of like a rolling rock, it gathers to itself as you read so something that might seem cool in the book just seems very random out of it. BUT, here is a little bit I think works, though it still needs the scene set. It’s a memory of Girton’s; he’s being taken to the slave market when he is very young and they’ve all been given old sacks to wear.

“They are not mean, the men. They are not deliberately cruel. They do not want to hurt them but they do not want to not hurt them either. They treat the boys as if they are nothing more than sacks of grain, rather than sacks of boy.”

I like the last clause, it has a nice turn. Though the majority of the book is first person so this may be a bit misleading.

DJ: Now that Age of Assassins is released, what is next for you?

RJ: Well, Blood of Assassins is finished and King of Assassins is with my editor. I have a vague idea about ships and maybe pushing myself a bit harder and seeing where it leads. Building a world from the ground up rather than using one that’s built around versions of our own history. Although, knowing me, it could be something totally different

DJ: Where can readers find out more about you?

DJ: Before we go, what is that one thing you’d like readers to know about Age of Assassins and The Wounded Kingdom series that we haven’t talked about yet?

RJ: I think it’s worth saying that although it is part of a trilogy it’s also a standalone book. It tells a story and wraps it up in the novel so you’re not left hanging.

DJ: Is there anything else you would like add? (Or add your own question).

RJ: No. You have been very thorough and I have also been staying up FAR TOO LATE and am a bit bleary eyed and tired and likely to ramble off into nonsense[6].

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

RJ: It has been a pleasure, DJ.

FOOTNOTES.

1 Although obviously, no such thing as pressure cooker in that world Maybe it should be a ‘huge cauldron environment’. But it’s not as snappy.

2 The lone wolf, the shadow at the edge of your vision, the darkness at the edge of etc…

3 Not sure Girton did. Sorry Girton. And I’ve read the next book, sorry for that too.

4 If you pop over to my blog there’s a detail from a painting called ‘Approaching Maniyadoc’ by Tom Parker, across the top and I think he’s captured the place quite nicely.

5 I find this with a lot of the first person writing I really love. That I have to get used to the feel of this new voice in my head, this voice that definitely isn’t me. And in first person I always think ‘it took a while to click’ is quite a compliment. You’re forcing the reader into a different space.

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

IT’S A GAME OF ASSASSIN VERSUS ASSASSIN

Girton Club-foot has no family, a crippled leg, and is apprenticed to the best assassin in the land.

He’s learning the art of taking lives, but his latest mission tasks him with a far more difficult challenge: to save a life. Someone is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince’s murder.

Age of Assassins is the first in an epic new trilogy set in a world ravaged by magic, featuring a cast of assassins, knights, ambitious noblemen, and fools.

About the Book:

Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can’t stay out of trouble.

They’ve created enough colonies so humanity shouldn’t go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition. And the Bobs have picked a fight with an older, more powerful species with a large appetite and a short temper.

Still stinging from getting their collective butts kicked in their first encounter with the Others, the Bobs now face the prospect of a decisive final battle to defend Earth and its colonies. But the Bobs are less disciplined than a herd of cats, and some of the younger copies are more concerned with their own local problems than defeating the Others.

Yet salvation may come from an unlikely source. A couple of eighth-generation Bobs have found something out in deep space. All it will take to save the Earth and perhaps all of humanity is for them to get it to Sol — unless the Others arrive first.

Buy the Book:

About the author:

Dennis E Taylor is the writer of the breakout SF hit, the BOBIVERSE series. An Audible best-seller, he had the site’s #1 Best of SF book of 2016 with WE ARE LEGION (WE ARE BOB)–the first of the trilogy. He is a retired computer programmer and now full-time writer, and a snowboarder when in season. He’s been reading science fiction for more than 50 years and now finds himself at the other end of the pen.

Today I am interviewing Nate Crowley, author of the new sci-fi horror novel, The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack.

◊ ◊ ◊

DJ: Hey Nate! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Nate Crowley: Sure! I used to be a journalist, but a couple of years ago I wrote a massive story about my mate’s birthday on twitter, and that somehow led me into a career as a fiction writer.

DJ: What’s The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack about?

Nate: The book is about political prisoners who get executed, then reanimated to work as slave labour aboard whaling ships on an alien sea. The protagonist, Schneider, can’t remember whether he was a librarian who was framed for sedition, or a dangerous rebel leader. In any case, he’s ended up dead and working in the most nightmarish environment imaginable, so he decides to give himself the benefit of the doubt and start a slave revolt.

DJ: What were some of your influences for The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack?

Nate: You can’t write a whaling story without a bit of Moby Dick getting in through the cracks, so there’s a little of that general flavour in there. I’m massively into natural history too, so there’s an awful lot of unusual and grotesque wildlife in the story, both in the oceanic setting the book starts in, and in some tropical locations later on. In terms of other influences, I’m very much into China Mieville – I love the way he writes about social structures that are even more monstrous than his actual monsters, and I’d like to think I’ve managed something a little of the same. I’m also a great fan of the late Iain M Banks, particularly in the way he managed to inject humour and humanity into the most horrendous situations.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

Nate: I guess what makes Schneider likeable for me is how thoroughly difficult he finds it to handle the situation he’s in, but how he keeps trying anyway. Any heroism he has is in his capacity to deal with the horror of his surroundings by laughing at the absurdity of them, and in trying to cheer up the other dead people stuck in the same (very literal) boat. Later on we meet Mouana (no relation to the Disney hero), who is an executed soldier with a much harder, less whimsical attitude. But despite seeming like much more of a badass than Schneider, she turns out to have her own insecurities, and the end they only manage to keep things together by knowing when to lean on each other for support.

DJ: What is the world and setting of The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack like?

Nate: The book is set in a very distant future, which is hobbling along several centuries after the collapse of a utopian interstellar culture called the Lemniscatus. This society was spread across thousands of worlds connected by what amount to stargates, but now half of them are broken, and half the rest are either incredibly dangerous to use, or go to the wrong place entirely. There’s no overall government – everything has broken down into a chaotic web of local, warring states, each trying to hold on to whatever functioning technology they can. Schneider’s city, Lipos-Tholos, is situated on the coast of a world like earth. Miles out to sea, there is a lemniscatic gate leading to a world called Ocean, which is a water world teeming with leviathans. As Lipos-Tholos is perpetually under siege, it feeds its population by harvesting Ocean’s abyss with huge whaling vessels… and very unconventional crews.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack

Nate: Because Schneider used to be a librarian (well, probably), a lot of his memories are based around the books he’s read. Presenting short passages from some of these books was a great way to give plenty of flavour to the world I was writing, without making the reader suffer through massive infodumps. I also really enjoyed how much freedom my setting gave me to come up with weird creatures and technologies – in a universe which is so chaotic and sprawling, you find your characters are always coming face to face with inexplicable things with backstories that are only hinted at.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

Nate: Well, the book finishes on a savage cliffhanger, which I almost feel I should apologise for. Aside from that, the feedback I’ve had so far suggests a particular supporting character seems to be a bit of a fan favourite. He’s a man who spent most of his life being aggressive in a bad pub, and he doesn’t seem to have changed much since becoming a zombie. He’s pugnacious, nihilistic, and repeatedly barks the same swear word like a sort of unpleasant Hodor – but I suspect he has a tender heart.

DJ: Did you have a goal when you began writing The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack? Is there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

Nate: Yeah, definitely. Although it’s marketed as a horror title, and there’s no shortage of absolutely horrendous stuff going on in it, this was intended as a weirdly gentle book. It’s about dealing with despair and grief, and about how friends can help each other through really terrible times.

DJ: Now that The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack is released, what is next for you?

Nate: I’m currently finishing up a humour book called The 100 Best Video Games (That Never Existed), which is coming out with Solaris in September. It’s a retrospective look at some of the best games that have never been made, lavishly illustrated by a team of genuine games industry artists. That’s been an absolute blast to write. Once that’s done I’m working on a fantasy novel called The Key & The Fish, which I’m hoping to say more about soon, and once that’s done – with a bit of luck – I’ll be working on another Wrack story.

DJ: Where can readers find out more about you?

Nate: I would cordially invite readers to get in touch on twitter. I’m very active on there, and always really happy to chat with anyone about my work.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

A hilarious, thrilling, violent and weird ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ for the 21st Century.

SCHNEIDER WRACK WAS DEAD.

Until he wasn’t.

Convicted of a crime he’s almost completely sure he didn’t commit, executed, reanimated, then pressed into service aboard a vast trawler on the terrible world of Ocean, he was set to spend his afterlife working until his mindless corpse fell apart.

But now he’s woken up, trapped in a rotting body, arm-deep in the stinking meat and blubber of a sea monster, and he’s not happy. It’s time for the dead to rise up.

From the stench and brine of Ocean to the fetid jungle of Grand Amazon, Schneider’s career as a revolutionary won’t be easy.

But sometimes a zombie’s gotta do what a zombie’s gotta do.

About the Author:

Nate Crowley lives in Walsall, near the big IKEA. A compulsive world builder, he is the author of The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack as well as the celebrated Daniel Barker’s Birthday. Nate is currently working on a text adventure about a haunted sales training manual called Big Mike Lunchtime’s Business Training ‘95, as well as the animated series Realms of Fightinge, and a new novel. You can find him as @Frogcroakley on twitter, where he is apparently worth a follow if you’re into that sort of thing.

Today I am interviewing E.M. Hamill, author of the new science-fiction, Dali.

◊ ◊ ◊

DJ: Hey E.M.! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

E.M. Hamill: I write as E.M. Hamill for more mature readers and as Elisabeth Hamill for young adults. Call me Lisa!

In my career life, I’m a nurse, but I’m a writer at heart every other hour of the day. I’m a total geek, lifelong scifi and fantasy addict, and I have a crippling ice cream habit.

DJ: What is Dali about?

E.M.: Dalí is a third-gender human in Earth’s future, completely shattered by the loss of their family in a terrorist attack. They stumble into a sex-trafficking plot that threatens other third-gender humans like them, and when they attempt to investigate, their own government blocks the effort. Dalí is recruited by a galactic spy organization for an undercover mission to discover who is behind the scheme, and it gives them purpose again. They have to decide how far they’ll go to get the information they need in order to stop another deadly terror attack.

DJ: What were some of your influences for Dali?

E.M.: I describe Dalí as a space opera in the same vein of Star Wars or Star Trek. There’s a large cast of humans and alien species working together to achieve things. There are also deliberate parallels drawn to the modern concerns like gender equality, LGBTQ rights, sex trafficking, and political corruption. Strangely enough, I actually finished the first draft almost two years ago, and there are some scary similarities to the current political climate in the US.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

E.M.: In the future I’ve envisioned, there is a large intersex population fighting to be recognized as a third gender for the human race. Dalí is a third-gender changeling, a mutation within this group that is neutral in their native state, but genderfluid and can assume at will the secondary sexual characteristics of a male or female. They’re completely at one with who they are: no doubts, no self-searching about being bisexual (or pansexual, as the case is with Dalí). I wanted to write a character who was completely comfortable with themselves and their sexuality.

They are also incredibly intelligent, a martial arts expert, and one hell of a diplomat, despite recovering from an unimaginable personal loss. They’re working through some self-destructive demons, so they aren’t perfect.

DJ: What is the world and setting of Dali like?

E.M.: This is approximately 500 years in the future. The Earth is so toxic after the last world war that what is left of humanity, now an endangered species, has abandoned the planet and moved out into our solar system. There are large colonies on the Moon (Luna), Mars, and Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, and they are known as the Sol Federation, or Sol Fed. Most people boast several different ethnic mixes in their genetic makeup.

Society is no longer concerned with sexuality but whether your genome is “normal” enough to reproduce and rebuild the human race. There’s a movement called the NPM, the New Puritan Movement, that is quasi religious in its efforts to ensure the purity of the human race. They’re gaining power in the Senate and passing laws that prohibit natural procreation and push for genetic manipulation to ensure the human race is genetically pure. The third-gender is not part of their vision, and the sterile changelings even less so. The NPM also hates the fact we’re having to branch out of the solar system and form protective alliances with our galactic neighbors, some of whom are genetically compatible with the human race in regard to reproduction.

The first part of the book happens on a space station in Jupiter’s orbit, then a passenger starliner, and a brief sojourn on the planet Zereid, where Dalí grew up in the Sol Fed Embassy. After that, the majority takes place on board a floating black market in space.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing Dali?

E.M.: Once Dalí started talking to me, they wouldn’t stop. This book was a journey for me personally for many reasons, and a huge reclamation of my love of science fiction, which I hadn’t written in years. The freedom of envisioning the future was liberating. I could have anything I wanted as long as I could justify the science to my own satisfaction. I did a lot of research on genetics, the Hijra community in India (who basically saved the human race in my universe), and faster than light theory. Just fluffy stuff, lol.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

E.M.: So far, the people who have read it feel that it’s a relatable portrayal of a genderqueer character, one that they can see themselves reflected in. I wrote it because I wanted to see this character. Growing up I was too terrified to stand out, much less to reveal that I was attracted to males and females on an equal basis. I didn’t come out until I was much older, after one of my own kids came out as non binary. People should know they’re loved, they are beautiful and normal no matter what part of the spectrum they fall under. I’m waiting for society to catch up with what we already know: we are born this way, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

DJ: Did you have a goal when you began writing Dali? Is there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

E.M.: I wanted to write a science fiction/spy adventure story with a genderqueer hero. Mata Hari and 007 all rolled into one. If people have to take away a message from it, hopefully it will be that people are capable of great things, regardless of gender (or lack thereof) or sexual orientation. On a more sobering note, it’s that if humanity continues on the path we currently stumble down, our future is almost certainly bleak.

DJ: When I read, I love to collect quotes – whether it be because they’re funny, foodie, or have a personal meaning to me. Do you have any favorite quotes from Dali that you can share with us?

E.M.: This was one of the first paragraphs I wrote to describe Dali’s state of mind, and I love it:

Ochre planet-shine from Jupiter’s face illuminated the room, the swirling storms in the gas giant’s atmosphere familiar to me now. I never found them beautiful, only an echo of the chaos in my head.

DJ: Now that Dali is released, what is next for you?

E.M.: I am going to make a foray into self-publishing an adult urban fantasy called Nectar and Ambrosia, which is a snarky, irreverent novel about a pub that straddles dimensions and caters to the formerly divine. I expect it to be released late this autumn.

DJ: Is there anything else you would like add?

E.M.: Thank you for taking the time to interview me! I really appreciate it. Dalí will be available August 7, 2017 through the Nine Star Press website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo – e-books and paperback.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

Dalí Tamareia has everything—a young family and a promising career as an Ambassador in the Sol Fed Diplomatic Corps. Dalí’s path as a peacemaker seems clear, but when their loved ones are killed in a terrorist attack, grief sends the genderfluid changeling into a spiral of self-destruction.

Fragile Sol Fed balances on the brink of war with a plundering alien race. Their skills with galactic relations are desperately needed to broker a protective alliance, but in mourning, Dalí no longer cares, seeking oblivion at the bottom of a bottle, in the arms of a faceless lover, or at the end of a knife.

The New Puritan Movement is rising to power within the government, preaching strict genetic counseling and galactic isolation to ensure survival of the endangered human race. Third gender citizens like Dalí don’t fit the mold of this perfect plan, and the NPM will stop at nothing to make their vision become reality. When Dalí stumbles into a plot threatening changelings like them, a shadow organization called the Penumbra recruits them for a rescue mission full of danger, sex, and intrigue, giving Dalí purpose again.

Risky liaisons with a sexy, charismatic pirate lord could be Dalí’s undoing—and the only way to prevent another deadly act of domestic terrorism.

About the Author:

E.M. (Elisabeth) Hamill writes adult science fiction and fantasy somewhere in the wilds of eastern suburban Kansas. A nurse by day, wordsmith by night, she is happy to give her geeky imagination free reign and has sworn never to grow up and get boring.

Frequently under the influence of caffeinated beverages, she also writes as Elisabeth Hamill for young adult readers in fantasy with the award-winning Songmaker series. SONG MAGICK won first in category for Teen Fantasy in the 2014 Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction, and first in category for fantasy in the 2016 OZMA Awards from Chanticleer Reviews. The sequel, TRUTHSONG was released in July 2016, and a third book is planned.

Her adult short story, “All That Entails” can be found in the anthology BENEATH THE LAYERS. Other upcoming works as E.M. Hamill include an adult sci-fi novel DALÍ in August 2017, and NECTAR AND AMBROSIA, an adult urban mythic fantasy. She lives in eastern Kansas with her family, where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.

Her short story, “Burnout” was featured in Empyreome Magazine’s Flash Fiction in March 2017.

Today I am interviewing Donna Migliaccio, author of the new fantasy novel, Kinglet, first book in The Gemeta Stone series.

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DJ: Hey Donna! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Donna Migliaccio: I’m a professional stage actress with 30+ years in the business. I make my home in the metro Washington, DC area, but am currently in New York City, where I’m understudying legendary actress Patti LuPone in the musical WAR PAINT at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre. Yep, it’s a crazy life!

DJ: What is Kinglet about?

Donna: It’s the story of Kristan Gemeta, a gentle young prince who loses his father, his crown and his family’s legendary Gemeta Stone when his kingdom is overthrown by the Wichelord Daazna. He must regain the Stone and learn to be a leader before he can take back his crown and free his people.

DJ: What were some of your influences for Kinglet and the series?

Donna: A big influence was T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. I was intrigued by the story of a young man coming into power who must learn to balance the need for control and strength against his natural inclination toward kindness and compassion.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?

Donna: Kristan’s innate gentleness is often viewed as a weakness by those he needs to lead so he can regain his throne. His journey is all about finding the confidence and courage to lead while still remaining true to his nature. Another major character is Heather Demitt, a reckless young woman who thinks she’s found the Stone and sets off to find its owner so he can help free her homeland from Daazna’s rule. And Daazna himself is a fascinating study – someone who feels he’s been wronged and will go to any lengths to get revenge.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing Kinglet?

Donna: Probably because I’m an actress, I’m always interested in what motivates a character: what are their needs, their desires, their fears. I wanted all my characters to be fully-fleshed – not just cardboard heroes and villains, but living, breathing people, multi-faceted; sometimes loveable and sometimes not. I loved putting my characters into uncomfortable situations and then figuring out how they’d deal with it. Sometimes they surprised me!

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

Donna: Oh, I hope they’ll be wondering what happens next!

DJ: Did you have a particular goal when you began The Gemeta Stone series? Kinglet is only the first book, but is there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

Donna: There are certainly messages and themes throughout The Gemeta Stone, but whether a reader “gets” them is not my priority. Mostly what I want is for them to get caught up in the story and characters. I want them to enjoy the journey. What messages they pick up along the way are coincidental.

DJ: How did you come up with your books’ titles?

Donna: The title of each book is taken from Kristan Gemeta’s nickname at that point in the story. Early in the first book he flees to a wasteland known as The Exilwald, and there he’s nicknamed “Kinglet,” after a reclusive little bird with a hidden crown of red feathers. (It’s an actual bird, too – one of my hobbies is birdwatching, so it was fun to add that to the story!)

DJ: Now that Kinglet is released, what is next for you?

Donna: The next book in the series, Fiskur, will be coming from Fiery Seas Publishing in November 2017, with its sequel, StoneKing, to follow in early 2018. I’ve finished the fourth book in the series and am already hard at work on the first draft of the fifth and final book.

DJ: Before we go, what is that one thing you’d like readers to know about Kinglet and The Gemeta Stone series that we haven’t talked about yet?

Donna: Occasionally people ask if The Gemeta Stone is a children’s or young adult series. It isn’t – it’s aimed at an adult audience. There are adult themes and a fair amount of violence. More mature teens will enjoy it, but it may be a bit much for kids under 15.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Donna: Thanks for inviting me to talk to your readers. I’m happy to answer any questions, either here, on my website or on my Goodreads page.

Buy the Book:

About the Book:

Kristan Gemeta has lost everything: his crown, his kingdom, his courage – even his name.

In the vast wilderness of the Exilwald, he’s known to the other outcasts as Kinglet. As long as Kristan stays hidden, he can elude the bounty hunters, brutal soldiers and terrifying spells of Daazna, the Wichelord who killed his father and destroyed his life.

But when a new band of pursuers comes looking for him, Kristan’s wariness gives way to intrigue. For bounty hunters they’re oddly inept, and a young woman in their company is leaving enigmatic drawings wherever they go. As they plunge deeper into the Exilwald, Kristan follows. He discovers the drawings symbolize the Gemeta Stone, an ancient family talisman seized by Daazna but now in the little band’s possession.

With the Stone’s protection, Kristan might stand a chance against Daazna. He could regain his birthright and his honor. But to obtain the Stone, he must reveal his true identity and risk the one thing he has left…his life.

About the Author:

Donna Migliaccio is a professional stage actress with credits that include Broadway, National Tours and prominent regional theatres. KINGLET, the first book in her fantasy series THE GEMETA STONE, will be released in August 2017 by Fiery Seas Publishing, with its sequel, FISKUR, to follow in November.Visit her website at http://www.donnamigliaccio.com.